


and a brother is born for adversity

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Series: Whumptober 2020 [20]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Everyone is actually there, Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy is So Done, Stressed Number Five | The Boy, Tired Number Five | The Boy, Until someone gets hurt, but only for a hot minute, the Hargreeves are like herding cats, then they try for two seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27248290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Day 28: AccidentLuther throws Five off of the stairs.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947877
Comments: 22
Kudos: 350
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Day 28: Accident

Five popped back into existence, glaring up at Luther who raised an eyebrow skeptically at his brother. Five shifted, daring him to walk away from them. 

Luther was done with his brother, though. He was done with his family, he was done with the world, and he was especially done with Five and his apocalypse nonsense. 

Luther nodded, fingers clenching and unclenching as his frustration built. He didn't want to be here, he didn't want the responsibility of saving the world, and he didn’t want to be the one to mess it all up again. He acted on instinct, picking Five up by his jacket, watching Five’s eyes widen, mouth opening in protest, arms and legs pinwheeling wildly as Luther turned, and, with almost no effort at all, tossed him like a sack of bricks over the railing. 

Five flailed, disbelieving, before, with the worst crunching noise that the siblings had heard, Number Five hit the ground. They gaped for a moment, surprised that he hadn't jumped away, Allison’s hands going to her mouth in shock. 

Five lay, motionless below them, crumpled into a heap on the floor. 

It was only when he shifted, that they moved. Allison pushed past Luther, Vanya following and Klaus stumbling after her. Diego glanced at Luther, clearly appalled as he shoved past him, “What the hell, man?” 

Luther pointed, perplexed, “I- I thought that- that he’d jump out of the way!” 

He started after his siblings nervously. 

Five attempted to shove Allison away, coughing, and oh god, that was  _ blood  _ on his forehead _ , _ “I’m _fine_. So- so all of you can fuck off.” 

Allison frowned sternly, “Five, you  _ broke _ something-” 

Five managed to sit up, moving to stand before paling and sinking back to the floor, a hand pressed to his stomach as he wheezed, “M’fine.” He sucked in another breath, “Stopping the apocalypse is more important.” 

He gestured at Diego, changing the topic swiftly despite his sibling’s protests, “We  _ need _ to work together.” 

Diego grimaced, clearly feeling pressured by his brother's injury, “...Fine. I’ll- I’ll give JFK a rest. For now.” 

Five sighed bitterly, “I suppose that will have to do for now.” He glared at the rest of them, “We  _ have _ to stay together and work out which one of us causes it this time.”

Vanya blinked, confused, “I thought you said it was an asteroid impact the first go around.” 

Five froze, “Ah, yeah, right.” 

Klaus raised an eyebrow, momentarily distracted, “Oh, a spontaneous asteroid impact?” at Five’s glower, Klaus’s shit-eating grin only grew wider, “I  _ knew _ you were secretly a big softie.” 

Vanya frowned, “What? I don't get it.” 

Diego opened his mouth, but Allison beat him to it, “Nothing, it's just a- a thing.” 

Five spat, trembling with anger, “Look, gather yourselves together, do the last shit that you need to do and then we’ll all meet back here.  _ Don’t _ go alone.”

Klaus raised a hand, clearly jittery, “Well, I’ve got to uh, hit up a diner.” 

Ben rolled his eyes as Diego nodded, “I’ll go with you there then. To stick together. And I need food that isn’t some sort of jello shit.” 

Vanya stood, lips twisting as she watched Five push himself to his feet, pale and shaky. She shrugged, seeing that he was apparently unharmed, “I need to go back to the farm to talk to Sissy and Harlan.” 

Allison raised her hand, “I need to talk to Raymond, do you want to make it a girl's trip?”

Vanya brightened, nodding eagerly, “I’d love that.” 

Allison turned, clearly having not forgotten what had just happened, “Luther, you carry Five upstairs and make him lie down. I don’t like how that fall sounded.” 

Five sputtered, “H- hey! You can’t do that!” 

Allison raised an eyebrow, “I can and I will. If you want me back here tonight, you _will_ let Luther put you in a bed and you will _stay_ _there_.” 

Five glared at her, lips thinning. Luther spoke up, “I don’t know guys, this doesn’t-” 

Diego scoffed, interrupting his brother’s protests, “I’m sorry, I don't listen to people who throw children down the stairs. C’mon, Klaus.” 

Five stamped his foot, “I’m not a child!” 

Allison turned to follow her brothers, Vanya trailing behind, wide-eyed as her sister added sternly, “Luther, you  _ will _ take Five upstairs and you  _ will _ stay with him or  _ else _ .” 

Luther cowed under her gaze. 

The doors closed behind them with a slam and Luther slowly, reluctantly, turned to his brother, “Uhm..” 

Five glared, “I’ll go up there, but you are  _ not _ carrying me.” 

Luther sighed as Five vanished with a flash of blue and white. He quietly bemoaned the fact that his brother hadn’t just done that before when he’d been thrown. 

* * *

Five was wheezier than Luther remembered, watching him lay there in the bed, arms crossed as he glared up at the ceiling as if it had personally offended him. Luther couldn’t help but feel bad about having tossed him down the stairs. He nibbled on his lip, thinking. 

Five’s curt silence had already gone on for half an hour and it was making him uncomfortable, so he might as well try and broach the stony coldness of their combined quiet, “Um… Five, I- uh, I’m sorry I threw you over the stairs.” 

Five squinted at him, something wrong with the way his chest rose and fell, “I really don’t give a shit, Luther.” 

Luther’s shoulders hunched and he went back to playing with his hands. 

Five heaved a great sigh, “What I’m…  _ mad _ about is your frustrating apathy about the fast approaching end of the world.” 

Luther glanced up at him in disbelief, Five sucking in another breath, face pale, “You  _ live _ on this planet. Your  _ family _ lives on this planet. How can you not care? How can you let them die, Luther?” He turned his head, eyes glittering, “You all  _ die _ , Luther. Could you really live with that? With watching the others burn and knowing that you did  _ nothing _ to try and stop it?”

Luther’s brows furrowed, “It’s not about that, Five.” 

“Then what is it about, you big idiot? Enlighten me.” 

Luther’s jaw worked before he finally spit, “I’ve had years to be here, Five. I don’t want to get sucked back into all of this chaos and- and  _ drama- _ ” 

Five raised his brows, voice dry, “Really, Luther. You’d rather let the world burn because you don’t want to deal with a messy family? That’s  _ completely _ understandable.” 

Luther glared, snapping, “It’s not like I did much the first go around, anyway! In fact, everything I did made it worse! I’m not cut out to be a  _ leader _ , Five, let alone the one with the job of saving the world!” 

Five snorted, “So you finally realized you're not in charge. Well, newsflash asshole, none of us are in charge! Do you think I am? I’m not! You guys do whatever the fuck you want!” Five laid back, chest heaving, face pale, “I’m so  _ tired _ , Luther. I’m so tired of doing  _ everything _ . And, if you haven’t noticed, everything  _ I've _ done has been worthless. The eyeball? Meritech? Harold Jenkins?  _ Useless _ . I was three steps behind as usual.”

He pointed at Luther, eyes wide and desperate, “Neither of us can do this by ourselves. We  _ can’t _ do it alone. That was our-  _ my _ mistake. We need to work together this time. If we don’t… If we don’t, we lose everything. I’m not asking you to lead, Luther. Hell, I’m not even asking you to make any decisions. I'm just,” his chest hitched, “I’m just asking for your  _ help _ , Luther.”

Luther looked down at his lap, head bowed. When he spoke again his voice was hoarse, “O- okay, Five. I can… I can give you that.” 

Five nodded, brows softening, “And that, Luther, is all I ask.” 


	2. Day 30: Ignoring an injury/wound reveal

Luther watched Five blink slowly and almost sleepily for several minutes before he asked cautiously, “Are you alright, Five?” 

Five blinked at him, and he was so pale, lips almost tinged blue. But that- that couldn't be possibly right. He wasn't cold, was he? Luther discreetly pulled the blankets up over his brother’s too still form. Five blinked, “I’m just tired.” He sighed, chest hitching, “Allison and the others will be back soon, right?” 

Luther nodded, glancing out the window at the darkening sky, “Hopefully, yeah.” 

Five sucked in another deep breath which dissolved into a coughing fit. Luther eyed him worriedly, realizing that they hadn’t bothered to clean up the blood on his head, “Is your- is your head, alright Five?”

Five hummed, “That bad, huh?”

Luther’s lips pursed as Five’s hands moved, pressing experimentally on his side. Luther frowned, “Well, I… I don't know. You… You look kinda pale. And um, your lips are blue- but I don’t… that’s definitely not good right?” 

Five winced at that, “ _Shit_.” 

Luther sat up straighter, “What, Five? What is it?” 

Five huffed, “Nothing that won't hold until the end of the world.” 

Luther leaned forward, suddenly intensely concerned, “Five, don’t give me that-” 

Five glared at him, “Look, I’m fine. I know what I’m doing and this problem won’t matter when the world ends in a few days. If we’re all still alive, then we can worry about it.” 

Luther stood, reaching the bed, “You asked me to help, Five.” 

Five crossed his arms defensively, “Yes, I did.” 

Luther’s doubts were evaporating with each word, “You told me that we needed to work together. You told me if we didn’t communicate, the world would end.” 

His brother’s lips twisted, “I didn’t say it exactly like that-” 

He bent down, examining his brother, pale and sweaty, lips most definitely blue, chest hitching with each inhale and exhale. Luther nodded and scooped him up, Five yelping as Luther adjusted his grip, one arm under his legs, the other under his back. Five clutched Luther’s shirt with panic, snarling at him, “Put me down right the fuck now, Luther!” 

Luther raised an eyebrow, “No can do, little guy. If you can jump out, I’ll let you go and say you’re healthy, but not until then.” 

Five glowered at him, brows furrowed, eyes sparking with anger and stubborn defiance. His fists glowed and Five gasped, pulling at his sputtering powers, which refused to react with anything other than a mildly impressive light show. Five let up after a moment, chest heaving as he tried to breathe. Luther’s brows furrowed, “Hey, hey, Five, you good?”

Five’s small hand curled into his shirt as he seemed to calm before letting his head loll back into his shoulder, hair sweaty and sticky with dried blood, “Fine. You win, asshole.”

Luther raised an eyebrow expectantly as Fibe scowled, “Pretty sure the fall snapped a rib. I’m also confident that it punctured a lung.” 

Luther sputtered, “F- Five! That’s not a thing you can just walk off, We need to get you help, _now_ , holy shit-” 

He started moving towards the entrance. Five huffed, leaning his head against his brother’s more than comfortable shoulder, “This better be a quick trip, before one of our idiot siblings destroys the world again.” 

Luther shook his head at his brother, intensely worried yet entirely confident that, for the first time in a long while, he was making the right decision. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is here: https://ford-ye-fiji.tumblr.com/


End file.
